An unmarried woman’s religious rulings governed Granada’s Muslim community

Evidence

Granada and all the country round were governed by the word of this Mora. She never married and was said never to have known any man. The ordinary people of the region said that this Mora had more credit in matters of our religion and sunna than anybody. — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 873

Categorization

• STORYSTEM: A female jurist figure who ‘governs’ a conquered or dying polity through word alone is a strong character seed for a story about religious authority in collapse.
• QUESTION: Interesting how an unmarried, secluded woman exercised authority the male legal establishment deferred to — worth investigating whether this reflects a distinctive Morisco or Andalusi pattern of female religious authority.